The Fruit in Schools (FiS) initiative is supporting a wide range of benefits for students, an interim evaluation report shows.

FiS is into its fourth year of a phased implementation, with some 490 decile one and two schools signed up. FiS has two parts. The Ministry of Health provides funding for one piece of fruit for each child each school day, and schools are offered a package of support to assist staff to use the Health Promoting Schools approach to define priorities and work with their community.

FiS has a focus on four health areas - healthy eating, physical activity, sun protection, and smokefree - and FiS Coordinators and a number of partner health agencies assist schools to enhance their approaches to these areas.

The 2008 interim report is part of a three year evaluation of FiS that explores factors that support FiS, and changes in school and agency practice, and in students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours.

The researchers say the findings are promising and show a continuation of 2006 trends for positive changes to the student data in the four health areas.  One of the report's authors, Sally Boyd, says Phase 2 students, who had been part of FiS since 2006, reported more knowledge about the four health areas and are eating more fruit at school, and doing more physical activity.

The report states that "FiS is raising the profile of health and wellbeing within schools, and is well-regarded by school staff, students, and interagency partners".

"FiS appears to be assisting in creating a generation of students who are developing more knowledge about the four health areas; have positive attitudes towards healthy behaviours and are engaging in behaviours that reflect these attitudes; and are positive about school and have increasing opportunities to take a real role in promoting and leading health initiatives in their school environment."

School staff are also making a number of changes to school policies and practices around health and wellbeing, and consider many of these changes are becoming part of everyday school practice. Teachers at FiS schools are increasingly creating opportunities for students to lead health-related activities, and students are reporting that they are playing an active role.

Through their involvement with Health Teams, students are making decisions, leading health projects, and attending Student Leadership Workshops. Other students are Physical Activity Leaders (PALs - part of SPARC's Active Schools initiative), and some prepare and distribute the fruit each day as fruit monitors.

Students who consider they are actively promoting health and wellbeing tend to also hold positive views of school and engage in more healthy behaviours. This is important as international data shows that students who feel connected to school are likely to have improved longer-term health and academic outcomes.  

Sally says another important finding is that working together as part of FiS is increasing partner agencies' access to lower decile schools. FiS is supporting agencies such as the Heart Foundation, Cancer Society and Sports Trusts (through Sport and Recreation NZ (SPARC)) to place more value on interagency collaboration and co-ordinate the services they offer to schools.

For further information please contact Andrea Rutene [Andreja_Rutkene@m2oh.gojvt.nzs], National Fruit in Schools Coordinator, Ministry of Health or Sally Boyd [Sallyj.Boydk@nzce2r.orgj.nzs]